1913

this evening, we were watching a movie set in 1913, and on a rainy say in the movie, all the folks were hoisting bumbershoots. lots of bumbershoots. lots and lots and lots of identical ebony black bumbershoots.

did you hear said i did there? same. exactly the same.

when we look back at these bygone eras and say -- damn, life was simpler then -- what we are talking about is shit like identical ebony umbrellas.

because we sure as hell are not talking about anything to do with gaining the funds or keeping up your strength enough to acquire an identical ebony umbrella.

case in point: preparing the nightly repast. no take out. no microwave. no frozen burritos. in fact, no "frozen" at all. starting from freaking scratch every freaking time. what WAS simple was choosing what to eat because there were so few freaking options. pork bellies and lard cakes. maybe a stale apple for dessert.

everything was complicated. getting dressed? complicated. preparing meals? complicated. making purchases necessary to run a household? complicated. taking a freaking crap? complicated as hell.

nothing was automatic. nothing was automated. accomplishing any one thing was not simple. there was a lot of dirt, a lot of fixing things yourself, a hell of a lot of walking just to get somewhere, and a freaking lot of sameness.

so.

there was nothing simple about the doing. the simplicity came in what you did.

case in point: acquiring an identical ebony umbrella. first, it took forever to save the money. then, the shopping trip had to be arranged to accommodate harvest time. finally, you had to walk three miles through the muck to the general store. BUT, when you arrived -- no prolonged decision-making necessary! there were only identical ebony black umbrellas. rows and rows of identical ebony black umbrellas.

what could be easier?